EVENING. People.

Pastor Sentenced To Jail In Wife's Beating

A pastor in Butler, Pa., who insists he was innocent in his wife's near-fatal beating, pleaded no contest to second-degree aggravated assault. He will have to serve eight months in jail at most.

"One of my many goals is to heal our family and become the best husband and father I can be," the Rev. Richard Rossi told Butler County Judge Floyd Rauschenberger at Thursday's hearing.

Police said Rossi, who punctuates his sermons at the First Love Church with foot-stomping songs and preaches about the need to fight demons, lured his wife to a remote area and clubbed her last June because they were having marital troubles.

When she came out of a three-day coma, she accused her husband of the attack but later changed her story, saying it was a man who looked just like her husband.

Rossi, 32, told authorities he suspected Satanists had beaten his wife. He said a man jumped into the car and drove off with her while the couple was house-hunting.

Rossi was to be tried for a second time on aggravated assault and attempted murder charges. The first trial ended in a hung jury March 31.

After the no-contest plea was entered Thursday, the judge sentenced Rossi to four to eight months in jail and four years' probation. He also ordered Rossi to undergo counseling.

The attempted murder and first-degree assault charges were dropped as part of the plea bargain.

A no-contest plea means Rossi has not admitted to committing the crime, but it has the same effect as a guilty plea when it comes to sentencing.

Mrs. Rossi accompanied her husband to the hearing but would not comment. Ecker says she still believes her husband did not attack her.